Do Tell: What Was Your First Job?

Maybe I'm just having a fit of nostalgia, but this week I had the most vivid flashbacks about my first official job, the one with a printed paycheck, the timeclock, and an expectation of ironed clothes. I was a sales clerk at a fussy department store; I was sixteen, and all the women who worked in my area were over fifty and very, very serious about selling clothes. This might have had something to do with the low wages, the commission, and the 'hole' one accumulated if you didn't make your sales quota. Anyway, I learned to appreciate their naked ambition and clever strategizing, their refined manners and subtle perfumes. It was a good, if unsentimental, education.

Do tell, ladies, what was your first real-life job? What was it like? What did you learn from it? Did anything mortifying happen?!

I had a lot of part time jobs freelancing as an artist. Making dolls was one job. Illustrations for magazines. Non of them seemed official though since it wasn't like McDonalds or something like that. When I was 22 after I graduated college I had to work for JCPenny for a while
before I got a better job in an advertising agency.

my first real job was working at a preschool. my best friend's mom was the director at a private school and she offered me a volunteer postion when i was fourteen. i liked it sooo much i volunteered for two years and then was hired on a month after i turned sixteen. i worked there for 2 and a half more years, but now i am away in college. when i go hoome this summer i am going to work there agian for summer camp. i love it, i love the teachers and i love the kids... it has helped me to see what i want to do woth the rest of my life, which makes me soo lucky. i am currently majoring in psych and minoring in human development and family studies and i want to be a child psychologist!! (and loving every moment of college)

My first real job out of college was at the Nike Employee Store. It was fun for the most part we got to help celeb's and professional athlete's shop. I will never forget when the LPGA was in town I walked up to some one and said can I help you with anything sir; it was a lady.

my very first job (not including babysitting gigs) was as a main gate ticket taker at disneyland. i loved working opening, with all the kids trying to peek through the gates and the band playing and all the characters there. openings were hectic, so i learned how to multitask. and how much i hated working on my feet.

I was a cashier/food runner/busser at ZuZu's Mexican restaurant when I was fifteen. It was my first job and the reason my dad ended up buying me my own car. He would have to pick me up everynight at like 11pm!!
The cooks were always trying to teach me bad words in Spanish. My dad made me find a new job when I got food poisoning after eating there on my break!! This started my long standing stint in food service. At 29, I am finally out of it!!

i have had some random jobs since i started working. my first job ever was as an assistant pet groomer and i loved that job and who i worked with (like the main groomer lady) but she left so i went to work at this place called the ice cream chicken and ribs depot (this is a honestly true story) and one side of the store served ice cream and the other side of the store served like chicken and ribs and french fries and everything was so badly deep-fried, the whole store had the most horrid smell all the time, but i worked with a bunch of friends and my boss was hilarious to make fun of so we made the best of that stink hole

my first job was at an art gallery. it wasn't too bad since my boss was fairly lenient with me.. especially since I was one of the few that did their job correctly. I was happy that I was given a lot of extra hours, but the worst part of working there was dealing with the children and drunk people during major events since we did serve wine.

I worked at Abercrombie and Fitch, a looong time ago when it wasn't popular at all (on the west coast). They made us fold everything with these boards. And almost no one came into the store so it was kind of depressing. Because the store was empty they'd make us space the hangers every 1/2 inch and refold stuff so we'd look busy. YUCK.

Besides working as a camp counselor, one of my first jobs was making beaded jewelry in this woman's basement. Most random job ever: there were about 5 of us girls mass producing thousands of turquoise necklaces. They said it would be two weeks and they paid me off the books. A very stern Chinese woman oversaw our production and was known as "the bead nazi," a nickname she bore proudly. The bead nazi took a liking to me and my nimble fingers and let me work there for 2 summers. At the time I thought it was pretty fun but looking back I'm willing to admit that I more or less worked in a sweat shop.

OMG Trixie6! Mine was down the street form the highschool also! But none of my friends came and bummed food lol. I would have been to afraid to give it to them. I wonder if we were at the same Hardee's? lol
_________________________________________________________
Why don't you wear the face you have when I am not around?

My first real job was at Krispy Kreme when I was 16. The back room was full of 40-something ladies who didn't speak English very well, and they made + boxed the doughnuts. I worked at the counter and drive-thru, and everyone else that worked up at the front with me were people who were a few years older than me, which was fun. I really liked working there, but when I first started I used to get in trouble all the time because nobody told me anything, like where to take my breaks and stuff like that. You wouldn't think so, but people who get doughnuts are RUDE! We used to get some awful customers in there. Other times we would get huge groups of Asian tourists who asked for pictures of us! It was fun! I really loved it there. Aw, now I miss it...

my first job was at a Papa John's Pizza up my street when i was 16. It was cool at first because i got all the pizza that was "undelieverable" (either the driver couldn't find the place or the pizza wasn't done right). It was fun for awhile but then my manager started hitting on me and i got really freaked out and quit soon after. Boo to sexual harrassment!

fun question! lol at putting the library books back where ever you felt like. and the burned eye; yikes, lucky you closed your eye, your mom must have been furious!
my first job was at a mom and pop car parts store, can't remember the name of it. i was 16 and got hired because the owners kid had a crush on me. then i got fired after about 6 weeks for ringing up the wrong prices. all the parts looked the same to me, but apparently they didn't all cost the same :INNOCENT: